The Rodeo World is About to be Rocked by Kid Rock
Kid Rock is not kidding about making a mark in Western sports.
The artist who has masterfully blended different forms of music into an unmistakable style all his own is partnering with PBR to bring rodeo to a new generation of fans.
The multi-platinum fuser of hip hop, country, and rock, who helped invent the country rap genre with his single “Cowboy,” will next flex his mash-up skills to modernize the original cowboy sport with a music-infused, team-formatted Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Roll Rodeo, paired with the biggest bull riding of them all – PBR World Finals.
The reimagined rodeo – promising a more energetic and amped-up production than your daddy’s rodeo – will open three days of Western sports action at the 2024 PBR World Finals championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Six teams will compete in bracket-style competition featuring Kid Rock live in concert, playing all his hits and more.
The all-star rodeo team competition with an upbeat vibe will be patterned after the successful formula PBR brought to bull riding through the Camping World Team Series launched in 2022.
The teams, each led by a head coach who will make crucial game decisions, will go head-to-head in barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and breakaway roping, a fast-growing rodeo discipline.
Andrew Giangola
“Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Roll Rodeo is an evolution of rodeo and the revolution of rodeo as entertainment,” said Sean Gleason, CEO and Commissioner, PBR.
“It’s rodeo reimagined – the world’s best Western sports athletes joining coached teams, competing in an exciting new way more relatable to the average sports fan. Team competition – with wins and losses within the event – will be surrounded by contemporary music for one unforgettable night in the NFL’s biggest stadium leading into the championship of the PBR World Finals. Our goal is to deliver a big, exciting, must-see Western lifestyle event appealing to rodeo fans as well as those new to the sport.”
Kid Rock has become a mainstay attending PBR events over the past year as he leans into the growing Western sports and lifestyle space.
PBR heads into its team league's second Championship this weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a head of steam. Teams’ competition has brought drama across loud arenas. Television viewership of the five-on-five bull riding games is strong – averaging more than 1 million viewers per CBS broadcast. New brand creative with brand ambassador Cole Hauser is expected out soon. PBR Nashville – the 14th PBR cowboy bar – opened earlier this month in downtown Nashville.
“Helping to create an all-American, patriotic, competitive Western sporting event with live music is exciting to me. I love cowboy shit, and we are going to do a mash up of rodeo and rock and roll like never seen before,” Kid Rock said.
Fans attending PBR World Finals last May saw Kid Rock accompanying Flint Rassmussen on the dirt in an unforgettable rendition of “All Summer Long.” Now they’ll see Kid Rock at the mic at his namesake rodeo which debuts on May 17, 2024 at AT&T Stadium preceding the PBR World Finals Championship on May 18-19, also held at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
It feels right for Kid Rock to partner with a sport in which determination and try is as important as natural talent. He has earned a reputation as one of the hardest-working acts in rock n’ roll, blowing the roofs off arenas and stadiums on countless cross-country tours and treks around the globe.
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He holds the Michigan record for most tickets sold (150,000) for a run of ten consecutive sold-out shows, and he set the Little Caesars Arena attendance record in his hometown of Detroit with 86,893 attendees in six sold-out shows.
Known to his friends as the kind of person who does generous things when nobody’s looking, the fiercely loyal guy they know simply as “Bob” is also a passionate supporter of the US Armed Forces, in addition to many other charitable causes through his Kid Rock Foundation.
A few years ago, around Christmastime, Kid Rock reportedly walked into a Tennessee Walmart and paid the layaway balances of 350 accounts – totaling $81,000.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated $100,000 to the Barstool Sports Relief fund, helping struggling businesses stay afloat.
Other donations he’s known to have made include $250,000 to support a reading program in Detroit, $250,000 helping a community kitchen, and $25,000 to feed the hungry in Michigan.
Kid Rock has been called “the Bad Boy who everyone loves.” Rodeo fans are sure to be next.
